Brendan Rodgers insists Mario Balotelli has the potential to match former Liverpool star Luis Suarez but shied away from directly comparing the two forwards.

The Liverpool boss said Balotelli must show greater consistency in order to elevate him to the Barcelona attacker's level.

'We shall see,' said Rodgers, when asked if the former AC Milan man was the player to replace Suarez.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says Mario Balotelli has the potential to be world class like Luis Suarez

Balotelli's new hairstyle is the centre of his Liverpool teammates' attention at training on Thursday morning

'There is no comparison between the two as players. Luis was brilliant for me in his time here and developed to become a player who consistently delivered in terms of scoring and creating.

'Mario is different. He's got a lot of experience for 24, he has come here as an established international, so for him it is about being quality consistently. That is what can elevate him to that level.

'Suarez elevated himself, that was clear,' Rodgers told reporters. 'He wasn't world-class when he came in but when he left to go to Barcelona he had put himself in that bracket.

Luis Suarez started in attack for Barcelona B against Indonesia Under 19s on Wednesday afternoon

Suarez is congratulated by his Barcelona B team-mates after scoring his side's second goal of the match

'He did that because of his consistency in scoring goals and keeping his performance level high. World-class is about being at the highest level consistently, being at that level in your game consistently. That's what takes you there.

'I think Mario is potentially world-class. You can't compare Suarez and him, but Mario is coming in as an international striker and he's a talent, no doubt.'